The local senior constable, Chris Blackie and his deputy Anthea Merritt, expect the murder investigation to be handled by Geelong-baseddetectives from the Criminal Investigation Unit. But they’re blind-sided by the interest personnel from the secret military training base on Swan Island take in the case, strongly suspecting that the Detective Inspector may be taking direction from them.

Book Review:

The second in Dorothy Johnston's Sea-Change series, THE SWAN ISLAND CONNECTION sees local senior constable Chris Blackie and his deputy Anthea Merritt developing their working relationship into something with more understanding, trust and respect for each other. Which is partly why they end up so blind-sided when a young boy is found dead at the beach, his body seemingly facing the military base on Swan Island. He was known to spend time in the company of the man that Merritt's been cautiously developing a personal relationship with, and between that, and the shadowy military base and their DI's odd behaviour, neither Merritt or Blackie quite know what to believe, or who they can trust.

Set in a small seaside town there's a feeling of a place that's growing rapidly. A combination of long-term residents, newcomers and visitors, alongside houses, apartments and shacks gives a small town feel with some perfectly believable unknowns in the mix. Add to that interference from the "big-smoke" of Geelong in the investigation and you have a nice combination of the known, unknown, annoyances and day to day. Especially when it comes to Chris Blackie and his rose growing!

There's an excellent balance here between character, setting and plot. The death of a young boy from a difficult background has a lot of implications for the town, and the impact that the death seems to include the secret military base, although the local police find it very difficult to discover much about the goings on on the island just off the coast. As Blackie and Merritt are pushed further away from the central investigation, their local connections are stretched very thin because they won't let it go - no matter the personal risks. It's understandable - no local cop, part of the community, would ever be willing to let the death of a young, vulnerable boy go unexplained.

There are now two books that make up the Sea-Change series, and whilst it's always better to start at the beginning it would be possible to pick up THE SWAN ISLAND CONNECTION as a starting point without missing too much of the background. It would be much better if you knew how Anthea Merritt ended up in a country posting, and why her love life seems so tentative and fragile. It would also be better if you knew Chris Blackie's family background attaching him to the same town, and particularly the reasons why the sea is not his favourite place. Although this novel introduces a range of new characters from around the town, it would also help to know something of the personality of the past, and how the town and the locals are reacting to all the changes that are happening.

The local senior constable, Chris Blackie and his deputy Anthea Merritt, expect the murder investigation to be handled by Geelong-baseddetectives from the Criminal Investigation Unit. But they’re blind-sided by the interest personnel from the secret military training base on Swan Island take in the case, strongly suspecting that the Detective Inspector may be taking direction from them.

"Still, he looked for hoof prints, glad there was nobody to laugh at him for doing so. He shaded his eyes and squinted at a dark object, half covered in sand, then began to walk towards it. He should have been wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes, but he never thought of things like that. It was a woman's coat, black, or at least it had been."

Book Review:

Not your average challenge this: "why not base a large part of your next crime fiction novel around the story of a disappearing camel". Then set it in a Victorian seaside town, with some tenuous connections to a murder victim discovered along the Murray. Luckily Dorothy Johnston seems to be made of stern stuff and great skill as she has taken this most unlikely scenario and created a page turner in THROUGH A CAMEL'S EYE that, frankly, was a standout read.

Introducing two new characters - local man, long-time cop Constable Chris Blackie; and blow-in from Melbourne, rookie recruit Anthea Merritt, this book is a brilliant combination of personal and professional, character and plot, menace and mundane. Blackie's love of gardening, and the restrained manner in which he lives a life seems unbearably limited to his big city rookie sidekick. Merritt, on the other hand, battling a doomed romance with a bloke who frankly comes across as an utter prat, feels that this move to the seaside is a necessary, but unwelcome step in a career that she intends pushing places. Driven and slightly snippy, she's instantly astounded by small-town policing. Be it Blackie's careful maintenance of the police station rose garden, through to the way that everybody knows everyone and everything, and the most mundane deserves attention, Merritt's the picky, easy to arouse one; Blackie's the quieter, sanguine one. In reality, neither of them are all that happy with the way that life is panning out.

Set in the real-life town of Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, the sea is a constant throughout this novel. Whether it's the danger (Constable Blackie's father drowned in a pilot-boat accident), or the calm of the processional cargo ships moving through the channel to and from the major port in Melbourne. The setting reflects the two main character's own personality traits, and personal battles - calm, wild, windy, sunny - and it's elegantly presented as a comparison and a companion. It's that style of comparison, and controlled, almost understated style in the writing of THROUGH A CAMEL'S EYE that makes it immersion reading. Right down to the presentation of a missing camel as something that deserves proper investigation and a resolution. Even at the same time as a connection between the town and the discovery of a woman's body on the Murray - close to where she came from, unfurls into something that again, seems perfectly reasonable to investigate, and the only sensible approach to take. Even if the connection seems innocuous and unimportant to many.

The inclusion of Riza the camel works beautifully as a catalyst for reaction. You can feel the distress of Riza's trainer Julie, faced with the loss of her lifeline, and stabilising influence, to say nothing of the terror of what could have happened to her beloved animal. For Camilla, cut off by the inexplicable loss of her voice, the camel becomes an outward focus, something to rouse interest in a life that's been inward and timid for a long time. Add to that the reactions of the farmer whose paddock the camel was kept in, the young boys in the town who have their own involvement with the camel's welfare and you end up with not just a rallying point, but a reason to search for this animal that makes sense. It might make a young city cop think that small town policing is going to be underwhelming, but there's an issue of community as well as animal welfare here that Blackie knows is as important as working through the discovery of a dead woman's coat in the sand dunes.

Whilst some of the "who done it" is going to be easy to made educated guesses about, THROUGH THE CAMEL'S EYE really is exploring the why. Why somebody kills, why somebody steals, why sometimes ending up in the last place you thought you'd be happy, actually works for you. It's also very much about small town life, with all it's foibles annoyances and strengths. It's a character study, wrapped up in a police procedural, with a very strong sense of place, and, one would hope, a long-term future as a series.

"Still, he looked for hoof prints, glad there was nobody to laugh at him for doing so. He shaded his eyes and squinted at a dark object, half covered in sand, then began to walk towards it. He should have been wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes, but he never thought of things like that. It was a woman's coat, black, or at least it had been."

Blurb from the book:

The second in the classic Phryne Fisher series from Kerry Greenwood, featuring the irresistible heroine Phryne. Whether she's foiling kidnappers, seducing beautiful young men or simply deciding what to wear for dinner, Phryne handles everything with her inimitable panache and flair.

Danger, excitement and love - this is how the glamorous Phryne Fisher is determined to live her life in her second enticing adventure.

Despite constantly "bragging" that we live about an hour from just about anywhere... it does mean that every trip in the car do to anything takes a while. We've recently turned to audio books to fill in the hours of dodging kangaroos and potholes and the most recent that we've been listening to is DEAD MAN'S CHEST by Kerry Greenwood. Number 18 (good grief.. really!) of the Phyrne Fisher series, the audio version is read particularly well by Stephanie Daniel who does an excellent job of individual accents for each of the characters - and there is a lot of characters in this book, many of them are new to the series.

That is probably because Phryne, companion Dot, daughters Ruth and Jane and dog Molly are on holidays in Queenscliff having to deal with missing servants, cleared out pantries, lost dogs, no cook or kitchen maid, an errand boy, surrealists on one side and a rather overbearing lady and her son and his rather nasty friends on the other, a mean old lady over the road who watches everything, her companion and... well lots of things really.

DEAD MAN'S CHEST is classic Phryne Fisher, albeit without a few of the normal extended household from Melbourne - but with the nice additions of some quite colourful locals to keep the story moving. The sub-plot of this book is the phantom hair snipper terrorising the young ladies of Queenscliff by sneaking up behind them and pinching their plaits - who eventually seems to be involved in something much more violent. But the main plot is the missing cook and butler from the house in which Phryne's family are holidaying. This normally reliable, staid and serious couple just don't seem the sort to up and disappear - particularly not the sort to leave their much loved little dog behind. Phryne investigates, Ruth gets her long held desire to be a cook, Jane finds a library full of books, and the possibility of smuggling and other nefarious goings on brings Dot's much loved policeman fiancé to town so everyone is happy.

As light entertainment, particularly willing away the hours on the road, Phryne Fisher books work well. There are enough touches of humour to keep the driver and passenger's awake and involved in the story, the stories aren't the most taxing of plots to follow so occasional interruptions when not driving aren't the end of the world and the antics of everyone in Phyrne's family keep your interest no matter how long it takes to work your way through the book.

Phyrne Fisher books are not my normal reading fare - but we've found that as audio with the wonderful reading style of Stephanie Daniel and the excellent production from Bolinda Books - they are becoming increasingly popular car listening.